


Growing Pains, a Steven Universe fanfic

by LordKaiserthe1st



Series: Rose Redemption AU [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Post-Episode s05e29-32 Change Your Mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 16:11:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16836055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordKaiserthe1st/pseuds/LordKaiserthe1st
Summary: Before Rose can hope to be a part of Steven's family, she must first make amends with the family she left.





	Growing Pains, a Steven Universe fanfic

“Oh, I can’t believe it! It’s our first family breakfast, this so great!” Rose smiled at Steven’s words. He had made sure to position the new smart tablet Greg had purchased on the kitchen counter, facing out toward the front door. As she looked around, she saw the first rays of the morning sun shine through Steven’s bedroom window. The rain from the past week had left behind a persistent haze that hung around the house, obscuring the view of the outside area. Greg had decided to celebrate the surprise reunion by making breakfast for everyone. She could hear bacon and eggs crackle and sizzle over the stove.

“Okay, Shtoo-ball, hope you’re hungry!” Greg said excitedly, Rose turned her gaze to see Greg and pondered how much he had changed. His hair, long as ever, had now entirely retreated from the top of his head, his skin singed from countless hours standing unprotected in the summer sun. “Greg.” He jumped slightly, still getting used to hearing her voice again, she remembered Steven telling her how shocked he was to hear of her ‘return’. In truth, it had been a shock for everyone.

She wondered what she should say to him, “I missed you, I’m so happy that we can raise Steven together.” Greg sighed and smiled, “I missed you too, Rose. I never even thought this would be possible.”

Rose felt almost embarrassed by his statement, “I had no idea this would happen, if I did, I would have prepared for this. I hope you can forgive me, dear…” Rose felt these had been the same words she had said to the other gems the night before, like she was one of Greg’s broken records, saying the same thing to everyone she spoke to.

“You apologize too much, Mom.” Rose could tell Steven wanted to keep everyone’s spirit’s up with his words. “I have a lot to be sorry for, Steven.” Rose stated grimly, Steven finished his breakfast and cleared his throat to speak once more. “Hey, let’s not worry about that right now, we have a full day where we can be a complete family, and I told you before, I wanted to have you be a part of my life. I know you have a lot of stuff on your mind, but right now, let’s just focus on having fun together. Please?”

“O-okay” Rose felt touched by her child’s compassion, as she tried to not to make it too clear that she was glowing with pride for her son. “What did you want to do today, sweetie?”

“Well…” Steven began to say, but before he could finish his sentence, the room was filled with the blinding light and the notable hum of the Temple’s warp pad. A few seconds had passed until Pearl walked within range of the tablet’s camera. “Oh, hey Pearl!” Steven excitedly said. “Oh, good morning, Steven.” Pearl chirped, turning to leave the room through the front door.

“It’s so good to finally speak to you again, My Pearl.” Rose said, Pearl froze as if possessed, “Oh, it’s, uh… nice… to finally speak to you as well Rose.” Pearl responded, her discomfort clear to everyone in the room, she couldn’t even bring herself to look in Rose’s general direction before she spoke again, “Don’t mind me, I was just… actually, maybe now isn’t the right time, excuse me, I have to make a phone call…” Pearl quickly dashed out of Rose’s sight, continuing to avoid eye contact. The door to Pearl’s room in the temple closed shut with an audible slam.

Rose turned to look at Steven and Greg, both appeared deeply distraught, and neither seemed eager to share their thoughts. Greg finally broke the silence “Uh, hey, Steven, maybe you should go get ready for today, I’m sure you want to look your best for our first day as the Universe family.” Stars formed in Steven’s eyes, “Oh my gosh! You’re right. Wait for me, I won’t be too long!” Steven rushed into the bathroom, and not long after, Rose could hear the sound of rushing water.

“I... I didn’t say anything to upset her, did I?” Rose said, sounding nervous. “Actually, that’s something I want to talk to you about, Rose.” Greg stated, as he adjusted the tablet to face towards him. “Greg, honey, is everything alright?”

“Yes, No? Rose, I just don’t know.” Greg seemed flustered at finding the right words. “It’s just, we all thought you were dead. And whether or not that was true, we believed that to be the case, and many of us had to make peace with that. But now that you’re back, everything feels a little more… complicated.”

“Greg, please, I want to make amends, I want to be there for our son, our family!” Greg seemed to squirm with discomfort, he cleared his throat, “Rose, you know I never pushed you into telling me about your past. When I did that, I wanted to let you know I loved you for who you were, that you shouldn’t have to feel weighed down by your past. Because I thought it would stay there. But it didn’t, gems came to kidnap Steven twice because they thought he was you. He lost a friend, he had to stop the Earth from being torn apart, and he had to help everyone make peace with themselves after you left. And then, Ruby comes to me crying, and tells me that the reason you guys were in so much trouble was because you lied about who you were, your past as Pink Diamond. Now… well, now I’m thinking that maybe I was wrong to not question some of the choices I made with you.”

“Greg… you can’t be saying that-“

“Rose, please don’t. You know I’m not talking about Steven. It’s just that this is all so much to take in. Look, let’s just focus on trying to be a family today for him, we can talk more about this later, okay?”

“Right.” Rose said solemnly, trying not to seem upset. She hoped she could make things better, that this gift Bismuth gave her could save her family, and her child. But she had to swallow the lump in her throat as she realized what her return really meant. That all she was doing was opening old wounds, and making the lives of everyone around her so much more difficult, did Steven know? Was he only staying in touch with her out of pity?

“Mom?”

Rose’s thoughts were interrupted as she saw the screen move once more to face her son. A towel was wrapped around the top of his head and he had changed out of his pajamas into a fresh pair of clothes. He could easily tell she was deeply upset.

“Is everything okay? What did you and dad talk about?” Rose didn’t want to ruin Steven’s first day with her. She tried to think of something that would take his mind off of this. “It’s just, I never thought I would ever get the opportunity to be with you, it’s just so overwhelming. I can finally bond with my precious baby boy!” Rose tried to smile, hoping her sincerity would mask her ruse.

Steven chuckled, “Mom, I’m fifteen, I’m not really a baby anymore.” Rose giggled, “Steven, no matter what age you are, you should know you’ll always be my baby!” Steven’s face blushed slightly, “Yeah, I’m really happy to spend time with you too, Mom.”

“So, what did you want to do today?” Rose realized her son had not finished explaining their plans for the day. “Oh, I was going to say that I was planning on us going to Funland! Mr. Smiley said it was ok after Bismuth helped fix some of the rides.”

“What happened to them?”

“Onion.” Steven said bluntly.

“Ah, I see. Well then, I’m eager to spend a day at Funland with you sweetie, are you ready?”

“Yeah, there’s just one little surprise I had for you.” Steven said, his excitement barley contained. “Oh, and what’s that?” Rose inquired, curious at what her child had in store for her.

With a wide grin, Steven plucked the tablet from its perch on the kitchen counter, carrying it in front of him so as Rose could view what was in front of him as he left through the front door. The light fog still persisted, but from it, two towering figures emerged, as they looked in disbelief of what they were witnessing before them.

“Pink… it’s you.” Blue Diamond said, the hood of her cloak was down, revealing her face, bags were visible under her eyes, a sign of her several millennia of mourning Pink Diamond’s supposed demise. Yellow Diamond only glared at Rose, “You’re not fooling anyone anymore Pink, you can drop that ridiculous form.”

“I am far more comfortable like this than I ever was as Pink, thank you very much.” Rose said, her indignation clear with every syllable.

“Steven, you said they wouldn’t show up for another week.” She tried as hard as she could to not sound upset at her child. She knew this meeting was coming. She loathed the thought of speaking to the other Diamonds again, but when she spoke with Steven for the first time, he made her promise to at least try to make amends with everyone her choices affected. Even now, she felt that her chance to be there for her son would MORE than make up for the temporary discomfort of having to speak to Yellow and Blue, and at least Steven knew White was a lost cause.

“They got here pretty early.” Steven stated, “I know you guys have had your differences, but I know that they really care about you, Mom. When I said we’d spend the day together as a family, I meant it. These are your family, can you please do this, just for me?”

Rose knew what Steven was trying to do to her with that final statement, and after a moment of grumbling, she conceded and agreed to have the Diamonds accompany them. But as they were about to depart, Greg wanted to ask them something he said might be important.

“Hey, I don’t really know what your thoughts are on shapeshifting, but… I should let you know Funland is kinda made for folks…. ‘human’ sized.”

Blue and Yellow looked at one another for a moment, Blue whispered something to Yellow, until finally they responded, “Ugh, very well, I suppose if we’re all in a hurry to make a mockery of our status.” Yellow said, staring right directly at Rose, who rolled her eyes in response. Yellow and Blue Diamond’s forms began to glow, as their forms started to shrink. When the light cleared, each was as tall as Garnet, Blue’s gem stone was obstructed by her hair, while Yellow’s was clear for all to see, as it encompassed nearly a third of her upper torso. “There, will this suffice?”

“That’s great!” Steven chimed, “Ok, let’s head to Funland!”

Upon reaching Funland, everyone attending there could not help but bear witness to the strangers before them. Attendees crowded the newcomers, and stared at them in awe. While some mistook them as garishly dressed humans. Only here to help attract tourists to the various rides and games littered across the boardwalk.

“Hey, do you guys work here or something? What’s with the getups?”

“Argh, of all the indecencies, to think I would debase myself here!“ Yellow growled, taking offence to the stranger’s statement, she raised her right hand towards him as it began to crackle with electricity.

“Whoa! Yellow, take it easy, he didn’t mean anything by that!” Steven hastily said, turning to face the man, “They don’t work here, just visiting.” Steven stood between the two, arms raised, “Yellow, please, there’s no need to get violent!” Yellow sighed, lowering her arm, “Fine, just remember, creature, you are in the presence of a higher lifeform.” Rose leered at Yellow, “You sure that form is big enough to contain your ego there?” Blue winced, hoping her fellow Diamond did not catch that remark.

Yellow turned to stare daggers at Rose, Blue rushing to her side. “Yellow, remember, we’re doing this for Pink.”

“You can call me Rose, Blue. I haven’t been called Pink in millennia.” Blue pretended to not hear her, turning to Steven, “So, what is it you do exactly in this place?” Steven smiled, all too eager to help diffuse the situation. “Funland is where you go to have, well, fun. Play games, ride rides, even win prizes.”

“Does it serve any practical purpose beyond that?” Yellow inquired, crossing her arms. “Uh, not really.” Greg responded, Yellow scoffed. “Then it’s useless.” Rose grumbled, she had expected Yellow to act like this, as she tried to get Steven’s attention. “Um, sweetheart? I’m not sure this is going to work out.”

Steven was clearly nervous, he cleared his throat and tried his best to look calm, “No, really, we’ll have a great time! Let’s hop on the roller coaster, you’ll love it!”

Greg agreed to hold onto the tablet as Steven took Yellow and Blue throughout Funland, starting with the roller coaster. Rose looked around, the fog was finally starting to give way as the sun’s light pierced further through the clouds. The boardwalk was bustling with summer tourism, as people from all walks of life crowded the amusement park. While Rose looked, she could see two parents walking along with their child. The young child rubbed her eyes and yawned, clearly exhausted from their stay.

The child’s mother smiled and picked her up into her arms and held her as they departed. Rose had seen this before, over the thousands of years she had spent on earth. Before, she never thought much of it, but now, she couldn’t help but feel envious of the human.

She had thought about what it would be like to hold her child, to hug him and sift her fingers through his hair. But she frowned, knowing such a fantasy would be impossible. She knew even now, she would never get that chance. She was overjoyed to be able to speak to him, to tell him how much she loved him and get to know the friends he had made. But now she felt it wasn’t enough, she wanted to tell Steven in person.

“Rose, you’re pretty quiet. Something on your mind, honey?” Greg turned the tablet to face him. Rose cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. “No, I was just watching that family and…” Steven came rushing back to his parents, a giant stuffed Alien in his arms. “Look what Blue managed to get us!” He said, placing it in front of the screen for Rose to see.

“Oh, Blue Diamond won that?” Greg said, eager to share in Steven’s excitement. “Yeah!” Steven gleefully said, “But she kind of knocked down the stand when she threw the rings, I told her not to use her powers…” Steven stated with embarrassment. “It’s ok, bud, I’ll tell Mr. Smiley that I’ll pay for it.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Steven smiled, as Greg ruffled Steven’s hair. “So did you guys have fun?” Steven asked, as the Diamonds returned to stand by him. Blue smiled and nodded before turning to Yellow, who stood scowling, unfazed by the experience. “Well, that was pointless.” Blue nudged Yellow’s shoulder, “Don’t be rude.”

“That’s okay, maybe we can try-“ Steven tried to say, before being interrupted by Yellow Diamond.

“Oh, enough of this.” Yellow blurted, turning her gaze to Rose. “I humored the child, now can we finally be done here, Pink? We’re ready to return home.” Rose scoffed, “Home? What are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere.”

“You need to return to Homeworld with us, you are more than free to bring the boy with if you’d like, but we only require you.” Greg frowned, “Hey, I’m Steven’s father and Rose’s husband, I feel I should have a say in this!”

Yellow shot her gaze to meet Greg’s, “On the contrary, you’re the reason we can only speak to her through that… thing!” She said, pointing towards the tablet.

“Please, Pink.” Pleaded Blue, her hands folded together. “We miss you, you’d best do what Yellow says.”

“Absolutely not!” shrieked Rose, aghast at Blue and Yellow’s callousness. “I can finally be here for my family, and you two want to just rip me away from them?! I made it clear a long time ago that I didn’t want anything to do with any of you anymore. So how about you just go scour another planet to make a new Diamond, one that won’t be such an embarrassment to you!”

“We are not having this discussion, we are not asking you, we are telling you.” Yellow had now raised her voice enough to gain the attention of several attendants as Steven began to look nervous, “Hey, let’s not cause a scene, how about we-“

“Stay out of this!” snapped Yellow, “You may have Pink’s gem, but that doesn’t make you a Diamond. Without that gem, you’d be helpless.”

“Don’t you dare talk to Steven like that!” Rose screamed, catching Yellow and Blue off guard. She noticed from the corner of her eye, she could see Steven starting to tear up. “Steven, sweetheart, its ok, let’s just go.” Steven breathed deep, “Ok” he said, his voice cracking as he wiped his eyes.

The group was as quiet as the grave as they walked back to Steven’s home, upon entering the front door, Steven threw himself on the couch, laying on it facedown. Yellow and Blue Diamond stood by the front door, their ship clear to see as it stood on the beach as the fog had finally died out. Greg awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he placed the tablet back on the kitchen counter and plugged it into its charger. “Hey, Steven, are you ok?” Steven didn’t respond, he simply continued to lay on the couch and sulk. Rose finally spoke up, “Steven, I’m sorry about what happened…“

“Mom, please don’t.” Steven turned his head to face Rose, tear lines clear on his face, “You didn’t even try to talk to either of them, I really wanted to make this work out, and I thought you would be willing to do this for me. Look, I’m going to go and be with Bismuth for a bit, since I’m sure Pearl’s busy. I’ll see you later.”

“Steven, I really did want to make you happy, I care about you!” Steven sighed, as he made his way to the warp pad and disappeared in a pillar of light, Greg following close behind. “Well, I hope you’re proud of yourself, Pink.” Chirped Yellow, her hands on her hips.

“Pink, let’s just go, you’ll make the wee one more upset if you stay.” Blue stated, Rose tried to maintain her composure, but it was no use, as her face grew red. “Why can’t you just leave me alone!?” she blurted, “I was never going to be the Diamond you wanted. I thought if you just left, it would be so much easier for all of us! It’s like you’re trying to just make me feel terrible, like always.” Rose said sarcastically.

Yellow straightened her posture as she tried to regain her composure, “I wanted you to become a great Diamond!”

“And when I finally got a colony of my own, were you there to help me? Or at least tell me what I was really doing? You told me we were creating life from nothing, not taking it from others!”

“Ugh, I knew you weren’t ready, but I admit that I gave in when I gave you a colony. And we were even generous enough to take it upon ourselves to do all the work to prepare it. I sacrificed precious resources to do that for you, don’t you see?”

“Yes, a shiny new colony for YOU to work on while I was stowed away with Pearl on the Earth’s moon. Alone! I just wanted to be with you and Blue! To spend time with you! Did you ever consider that maybe I just wanted a friend? That maybe that was the reason I asked for a colony to begin with!? Or why I wanted to see my gems emerge, to show them love! I wanted my gems to be happy.”

“And so you waged war on your own court to keep up your charade?”

“What court!? The Amethysts that Blue reassigned to that awful human zoo that I DIDN’T EVEN WANT, or the Quartz soldiers from the Beta kindergarten that you took for yourself? The Pearl that you handed off to White!? Admit it, Earth was just an excuse to give YOURSELVES another colony.”

“At least I can say I made better use of this miserable planet than what you had in mind!”

“Yellow, you act as though my wish to protect the Earth was a mistake.”

“EVERYTHING YOU DID ON EARTH WAS A MISTAKE!”

There was a long silence throughout the room, as the Rose’s features began to harden with indignation and rage through the tablet screen. “So, that’s what you think of Steven then?” Rose coldly stated.

Yellow’s scowl seemed to magically disappear, as she cleared her throat and tried to rephrase her words. “Pink, I just mean-“

“Yellow.” Rose’s words jabbed through Yellow Diamond’s hollow rebuttal, “You listen to me right now. Blue, you as well. I was willing to wage war with all of you for the planet I loved. In doing so, I hurt Gems on both sides. I fought against the image of me you always held up for Homeworld to see, because you were ashamed of who I was. You pushed me away because you wouldn’t listen to me. I would not stand by and watch you force me to kill the planet I loved and the life that called it home.” Yellow Diamond began to look away in discomfort and shame.

Rose continued, “I’ve jeopardized the Earth from the moment I first saw it. And I’ve lied, cheated, and betrayed everyone I cared about to protect it. So don’t you talk to me about sacrifice.”

Blue finally chimed in “Pink, what are you trying to tell us?” She said, concerned. She was beginning to tear up as she was clearly troubled by Rose’s unbridled anger towards her and Yellow.

“What I am saying is, Steven is literally all I have left, and I know I don’t deserve him. I’ve hurt him, I’ve lied to him, I… I’ve been such an awful, awful mother. And yet through everything, he still forgave me. And if you hurt him, then I will never forgive you. You’ll both be dead to me. And I don’t care if that means I’d be alone forever. I love my baby, and he’s the most important thing in my existence!” Rose stated solemnly, she tried to sound stern, to give off a sense of authority, but it was ultimately drowned out by her sense of guilt and ceaseless tears.

“And if you two really care about me like you say you do, you’ll prove it, and help look out for my son! I can’t be there for Steven physically. Do you know what it’s like? How much I yearn to hold him in my arms? To comfort him like any good parent should? I’ll never get to have that joy! But you can, if you show him the same love you claim to have for me!”

Yellow and Blue looked at each other, and then back to Rose, she had now finally broken down, her eyes covered by her hands. “Pink?” Yellow said, as she took a heavy sigh, “Rose.”

Rose had wiped her eyes, as she tried to calm herself down. Yellow continued, “I’m sorry, I didn’t intend for things to happen this way, I didn’t know you felt this way about Earth and humans, and for the… Steven… I thought you wanted to make Earth an excuse to run away from your responsibilities. When you wanted to save it, I had no idea you were so serious about it all. And why are you even serious about it? What practical purpose does this planet serve as it is now?”

“It doesn’t.” Said Rose, “It doesn’t need to serve any purpose, it just lives, it changes and grows and for that, I love it. I love the Crystal Gems, all of them, because they have a willingness and capacity to change and do great things. I love Greg because I could unapologetically be myself around him. And I love Steven, because he reminds me that for everything I’ve done, I can say I did one good thing.”

Blue finally spoke up again. “Pink, do you really think that little of yourself?” Rose sighed, “Like I said, I was never the Diamond you wanted me to be. And so after a while, I just decided I didn’t want to try seek validation from you anymore, that I should stop trying to look for something that wasn’t there.”

Blue quietly wept, her power affecting Yellow, compelling them to both feel the full weight of their guilt. “Blue enough, we need to amend this.” She said, flicking the tears from her eyes. “I am willing to admit fault in how we handled the situation, we didn’t respect your position as a Diamond, and you concluded that if your status meant so little to us, while it would hold such a negative connotation to your peers, we can understand the reasoning behind your choices.”

“Yellow?” Yellow Diamonds gaze met with Rose’s, as she smiled, “Thank you.”

“But we are not entirely to blame, Pink.” Blue said, “You played a hand in this too.”

“I won’t try to hide that, not anymore.” Rose admitted, “But I won’t apologize for how I felt about everything. And right now, my son’s happiness and my family’s future are more important than my anger. So with that said, let’s just talk.”

Hours passed, as the house once again lit up with a bright light and the familiar hum of the warp pad, Steven and Greg had returned. Bismuth followed right behind them, as she stared daggers at the Diamonds who were currently sitting by the front door.

“Oh, Steven, you’re back. Look, I know I really let you down today. And I’m sorry, I want to let you know that I had a talk with Yellow and Blue, and we worked out a deal.” Rose said, hoping it would reassure Steven.

“What? Really?” Steven said in disbelief, “Mom, that’s great! So… what are you guys going to do?”

“Simply put, as Pink, err, Rose is the Diamond that oversees the fate of Earth’s colony, she holds absolute power over its sovereignty.” Blue stated, “And she has decided to use her authority to bequeath that responsibility to you. As you are in possession of her gem and have a presence on the physical plane. Congratulations Steven, Earth is yours.”

Steven’s face was blank with shock, he stood there for a minute, trying to process what Blue Diamond had just told him. Bismuth rushed to hold him up before he tipped over. “That, uh, whew, that’s a pretty big gift.” He jokingly stated, as he gave a forced laugh. “A whole planet, that’s quite a responsibility.”

Yellow Diamond cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m glad that you understand just how much of an undertaking this is, which is also why if you are ever in need, you are more than free to use the Diamond communication line to request our assistance in your future endeavors.”

Greg finally chimed in, struggling just as much to make sense of what was happening, “If I could have a say in this, I would appreciate if you guys helped Steven in doing something about the Human Zoo. Rose never wanted it, and you only kept it in memory of her. Besides, I don’t think Steven would want to be in charge of a place like that.”

“And if you could, I know someone who would appreciate it if the gems that staff the zoo are also brought to earth, maybe make the transition for the zoo’s occupants easier?” Steven finally spoke up.

“It’s done, we’ll alert Holly Blue Agate of the news, and those gems are yours to do with as you please.” Blue said, looking to meet Rose’s glace as she smiled nervously.

“That’s a great offer there, your highnesses, but I don’t really know what we could give you to help repay you for this. Is there anything we can give in return?” Greg finally asked, scratching his beard.

“There is one thing, dear.” Rose said, as she turned her gaze to Bismuth, “Bismuth, I know I am in no position to ask anything of you, but if you could make something that the Diamonds could use to speak to me, our family would be eternally grateful.”

Bismuth looked around the room, when she looked to see Steven, he was on his knees begging, puppy dog eyes and all, “Please Bismuth?” she sighed, “Okay, I’ll do it, if this’ll help Steven, I want to do my part, not to mention it’ll get them out of my hair.” She said, pointing towards the Diamonds, “I’ll go get Peridot and get started right now. ” Bismuth returned to the warp pad and shortly afterwards, left in a flash of light.

“Charming, isn’t she?” sneered Yellow, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“She’s a good person, but she’s had to it rough for the past few years.” Steven said, “And thanks, I didn’t mean to get so upset, I just wanted us to be a family, and I wanted you all to get along.”

“We were all at fault, Steven. But now we can finally start to heal some very old wounds.” Steven smiled at Rose’s words, “I love you, Mom.”

Rose grinned at her son’s words, “I love you too, Steven.”

The night finally arrived, as the night sky was blacked out by the coming rain clouds, the windows of the house were sprinkled with tiny droplets of rain, Steven had long since wished his mother a good night, but before Greg could leave, he waited for the Diamonds to depart and for Steven to fall asleep before he could seek to speak to Rose in private. He held the tablet close to him as he sat on the sofa.

“Greg, I thought about what you had said, and I want to say, I understand if you don’t want to be with me anymore. I should have told you about my past as a Diamond. I appreciated that you loved me for who I was, but I think now it would have been better to just tell you, so we could have made an informed decision.”

Greg smiled, “Thanks, Rose. Look, I don’t regret loving you, I’ll never regret that. I just think we all needed a moment to think everything over. And I know the gems are going to come around as well. It may take a while, but they will.”

Rose smiled, “Greg, right now, I want nothing more than to kiss you.” Greg chuckled, “So do I. Well, I better get some sleep, we have a little prince we need to groom for tomorrow, and we better make sure all this doesn’t go to his head.” Rose giggled, she looked in the direction of Steven’s bed, her mind racing with the thoughts of what amazing new paths her son’s life would take, at peace knowing they would be able to stand by him as a family. And at least for now, that was enough for her.


End file.
